Google grew its empire by grabbing search engine Plink...and Twitter apparently hopes to grow its bottom line with a new approach to advertising.
Plink Search Engine is Now Google's
In a bid to expand its ever-growing power in the world of the Internet and technology, Google has just acquired Plink, a British search engine. The actual amount for which Google purchased the rights to the search engine has not been made public, but one would have to believe it the figure was an attractive sum, at least in the minds of Plink founders Mark Cummins and James Philbin, who launched the search engine only months ago. Surprisingly, Plink marks the first time that Google has acquired a British product of its nature, although it most likely won't be the last.
While Google has certainly been successful in the conventional search engine market, Plink adds a little twist to the game. Rather than using words or phrases as search subjects, Plink uses visuals instead. An example of the search engine's possibilities is its PlinkArt application, which is available on Google Android smart phones. Users can photograph a piece of art, submit it through a search query, and PlinkArt tries to find a match with actual data on the artwork.
The work for Plink founders Cummins and Philbin has just started, however, as Google has requested their services in the further development of Google Goggles, an application that allows users to take photos with their mobile phones and then perform related searches for more information. Although the market for such an application might be somewhat limited compared to the mainstream, it should be interesting to see how Google tweaks and improves it in the future.
For more on this acquisition, visit: http://topnews.us/content/216614-google-takes-over-visual-search-engine-plink
Twitter is Getting Commercial
As the saying goes, money talks, and such now appears to be the line of thought for Twitter. Despite its extreme popularity and estimated site value of a jaw-dropping figure of one billion dollars, Twitter has never really attempted to advertise through its site since its launch, until now. The use of promoted tweets will mark Twitter's first attempt at traditional advertising.
Promoted tweets are essentially tweets that will have priority within the site. Large corporations such as Starbucks, Sony Pictures, Best Buy, and Red Bull will use these special tweets in an attempt to expand their reach to the public. Users can expect to see sponsored tweets in a manner similar to Google top search results that would appear highlighted. One tweak to Twitter's method is that the promoted tweets would need to prove some relevance to the user, such that if a user did not re-tweet it or reply to it, the promoted tweet would vanish.
The relevance model does provide users with some peace of mind that the site will hopefully not be overrun with irrelevant advertising. However, there has been some criticism of Twitter's move towards profit-mindedness. Some believe that adding advertising to the site could irritate many users, and that many visit Twitter for social interaction and not in the name of consumerism. On the other hand, one cannot blame Twitter for trying to capitalize off its immense popularity, as they do have costs to maintain the site.
To read more on Twitter's move, visit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/twitter/7586446/Twitter-to-launch-promoted-tweets-in-a-bid-to-make-money.html
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